Interview with Doris Hicks

Interview by Shina Hicks in 2006

Where were you born?

I was born on Sunday, the 30 of September 1917 in Lovell, Wyoming. I was born just in time for church at 3:00 a.m.

What did you do for entertainment when you were young?

I would come home from school and I and my brothers and sisters would saddle up the horses and ride.

When I was a junior or senior in high school, my family moved to Salmon, Idaho

How has life changed since you were a child?

I have gotten smarter. I have the same personality. I have gotten too old to do some of the things that I used to do. I have a sheet that I wrote some of those things down on. [All the members of the family should have that sheet that has some of my life history.]

What did you do as a teen?

I had a fellow or two. I rode horses a lot. I had a girl friend that would come to the ranch. My family would raise melons during the depression and eat them a lot. We would trap skunks to sell the hides for $.75 a hide. We would go to dances in Sheridan, Wyoming. We had mutual dances in the chapel in our small branch. That is where I learned to dance.

In Idaho, we would go to Kirtley Creek for dances. That dance hall is where they had the old post office and that is where I met Grandpa Hicks. Wilford Hogan was my boy friend at the time. Hogan got hold of some moonshine and got drunk so I wouldn’t dance with him. A friend brought Harry over and introduced us. He took me home and that was the beginning of our romance.

Were you a member of the Church [LDS Church]?

Yes, 7th generation

What was your first job?

I was a house cleaner when I was really young, then I worked on the ranch when I was older, I was hired to keep an eye on a girl that needed a babysitter.

Tell about your baptism.

I was baptized by Eugene Durfee when I was eight, in Lovell, Wyoming. I think my dad confirmed me.

What influenced your life during the Great Depression?

Things were a lot simpler then. We raised a big garden. We traded cucumbers with neighbors for a goose for thanksgiving holiday. That is the way people got along in those days. There was a lot trading and bartering. Everyone was poor; nobody had any money. Everyone was in the same boat.

How old were you when you met Harry? What was your first impression of him?

I was seventeen

He was a handsome bugger and could sure dance! His good looks attracted me to him at first and the fact that he could dance. And of course, he wasn’t drunk like the rest of the men at the dance.

What did you do on your dates?

We used to go horseback riding and fishing. We would go out to the Lemhi dance hall and the Bloated Goat for dances.

I was married, 19 April 1935 by Bishop AV Miller. Later, we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. That was in 1964 probably in the summer, June 15?

Harry became a member in August when I married him. My dad baptized him in the Salmon River.

What was Grandpa like?

Very intelligent, good looking, hot tempered, hard worker, taught kids to work.

Best memories of Harry?

Harry loved his family. He was kind of a strict disciplinarian, but he had a great love for his family.